Slick new corporate security operations around the world have replaced the mythical soldiers of fortune like "Mad Mike" Hoare, "Black Jacques" Schramme, and Bob Denard, mercenaries who drank hard, womanized, and wreaked havoc throughout Africa in the wars that followed independence from colonial rule. Today's mercenary is more likely to wear a business suit or stand guard outside over an oil pipeline. Companies like Defence Systems Limited guard British Petroleum's pipelines in Colombia, Dyncorp polices the Mexican border while Military Professionals Resources Incorporated trains US soldiers in Kuwait and Iraq in live-weapons fire.

AFGHANISTAN: Maladies of Interpretersby Joshua Foust, New York Times September 21st, 2009For most American troops, the only connection they have to the locals — whether soldiers in the Afghan army or villagers they’re trying to secure — is through their interpreters. Yet the way the military uses translators is too often haphazard and sometimes dangerously negligent.

Bush is gone, but Halliburton keeps cashing checksby Pratap Chatterjee, Salon.comJune 3rd, 2009All was remarkably staid as shareholders celebrated Halliburton's $4 billion in operating profits in 2008 at the company's recent AGM in Houston, a striking 22 percent return at a time when many companies are announcing record losses. At the same time, Sen. Byron Dorgan's Senate Democratic Policy Committee was holding a hearing on Capitol Hill focused on abuses by former subsidiary KBR.

French Tribunal Investigates Qosmos Over Surveillance Software Use In Syriaby Fatima Hansia, CorpWatch Blog July 21st, 2015Qosmos – a French technology company– is being investigated for acting as an “assisted witness” in alleged torture in Syria. The specialized crimes unit of the Paris Tribunal has agreed to study the use of Qosmos surveillance software by Bashar Al-Assad’s regime, following complaints filed by two human rights NGOs.